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How to beat fraud: verify, verify, verify

Verifying information from another source is a simple step that can save residents from lining the pockets of fraudsters with hundreds of thousands of dollars, a Kingston Police detective reports.

“If I get a phone call who says he’s from [the Canada Revenue Agency], he says I’ve gotten audited and I owe back taxes, I say, ‘OK, that’s fine, but I’m going to hang up from you and I’m going to verify my source,’” Det. Brad Hughes of the Kingston Police Fraud Unit said.

“I’m going to go on the computer myself, look up the CRA’s phone number myself, use that phone number. I’m going to contact the CRA and I’m going to ask them if they have a file on me where I owe back taxes. They’re going to say ‘no,’ and at that point I’m going realize that somebody just tried to scam me.”

Fraudsters will try to give you a number to call in order to verify their information, but Hughes says don’t use it. Look it up or have someone with you look it up instead.

Currently there are four investigators in the fraud unit and there are still 20 cases waiting in the queue, Hughes admitted.

“They’re constantly coming in,” Hughes said. “With most of them we can’t do much, the money is gone and it’s untraceable.”

While Kingston residents are reporting a variety of scams, some of the more prevalent cases include the CRA scam, computer maintenance scams, Kijiji scams, and bank scams, Hughes said. Verifying the source can be used to discover every type of fraud.

“Any type of scam done over the phone or over the internet,” Hughes said. “If people just did that [verified the source], they would prevent themselves from being a victim of fraud.”

No matter what anyone says, iTunes cards are not a form of currency in Canada, Hughes said.

“We don’t pay our taxes with iTunes cards,” Hughes said. “Unfortunately, we get that [from victims] all the time.”

He said that no one should be afraid to simply hang up.

“Don’t let these people bully you to give them money. Hang up and call the CRA yourself, and don’t call them with the number the fraudster gives you,” Hughes said. “But people get scared and they get intimidated and they get rushed into making a bad decision.”

Every so often, the unit will deal with a romance scam. Recently, Hughes met with a woman who sent money to a man she’d fallen in love with over the internet. The fraudster claimed he was stuck in jail in Beijing, needed bail money and she sent thousands of dollars. It took Hughes simply questioning her how an inmate in China would have access to a computer to ask for money and then to receive it for her to realize the fraud.

“The romance scams are tough and we’re probably never going to defeat those because these guys are good,” Hughes said. “They’ll Skype with people, they’ll let them see their face, they’ll show them a passport, and people are convinced.”

Technology is both a gift and a curse for the fraud unit. For example, Hughes said Kijiji is one of the easiest ways to take someone’s money. Thieves will ask for money before sending a product. Hughes mused that Kijiji is the new breaking and entering: why break into someone’s house and risk getting caught in person when you can take someone’s money over the internet.

“Some of the Kijiji ads are legit, but with some of them … you’re taking a risk when you use Kijiji,” Hughes said. “Buyer beware.”

While money transfers can be tracked if they are sent to a Canadian bank account, nine times out of 10 the money is being sent overseas.

“When they wire it overseas and it’s gone,” Hughes said. “Another complication [the unit faces] is online: with the ability to change your web proxy and the IP address, it’s hard to identify where these applications are happening because the IPs aren’t reliable …

“Fraud is the future of crime by far, with our technology.”

In the end, Hughes said not to rush to give away your hard-earned money. It’s your money. Don’t be so quick to lose it.

“All those [tips] would probably stop 97 per cent of our fraud investigations. We wouldn’t have anything to do here in fraud if people just followed those rules and tips,” Hughes said. “Verify, verify, verify, verify your source and everyone would be fine. That’s what I would stress for people to combat fraud in this city.”